


A Broken Wing

by srmiller



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: (but i prefer harper queen myself), Canon Divergent, F/M, Flash Fic, Theroy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-10-08 07:59:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10382112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/srmiller/pseuds/srmiller
Summary: because, damn it, thea deserves better and i really want roy to be there for her the way oliver was there for him





	

“Thea.”

She didn’t look up, but she recognized the voice immediately, “Not now Roy.”

Ignoring him, and big surprise there, Roy moved across the empty floor of Verdant to sit next to her on the steps leading up to the second floor, “You need to talk to someone, and who better than your ex-boyfriend who dresses in red leather and fights crime with your vigilante brother?”

A laugh sputtered through her lips but quickly died as she shook her head, “This isn’t what I wanted.”

He reached out and took her hand and while she couldn’t find it in her to curl her hand around his she took comfort from his touch, “I know.”

And the stupid thing was, she was pretty sure he did know.

He tugged on her hand gently and when she looked at him there was such genuine concern in his face she was immediately transported back to Corto Maltese.

_I just want you to be happy._

Her fingers curled and twined with his and he squeezed once to let her know he was there for her.

Shit.

“You lied to me.”

“I did.”

“That really pissed me off Roy.”

He nodded, “I know. And you had every right to be pissed, you have every right to be pissed as long as you want, but be pissed talking to me.”

Thea stood up, short hair brushing against her cheeks as she took a few steps away from the staircase before turning quickly and letting out a growl of frustration, “You lied to be. Ollie lied to me. Literally everyone in my life lied to me, except Malcolm. Or so I thought.”

Roy stood up and shoved his hands in to his pockets, and she appreciated he didn’t try to touch her, “You thought you could trust him?”

“No,” she snapped, a hysterical laugh on the verge of her lips. “But I thought I could handle him. I thought I could keep my distance and use him and in the end he used me.”

She looked down at her hands, they were clean with callouses less than a year old but there was blood on them.

She still couldn’t remember it, but the video Oliver had shown her didn’t lie.

And when faced with the truth, Malcolm hadn’t either.

“I wanted to be strong Roy,” she finally said, crossing her arms over the sweater Felicity had lent her when she’d gotten back to the lair and her previous shirt had been covered with blood.

Hers this time, but it served her right going after that lunatic by herself.

“You are strong Thea.”

“No. I was gullible and nieve and-“

“The people in your life sucked,” he cut in. “That wasn’t about you. You loved Oliver, and your mother.”

“And you.”

“And me,” he smiled quietly. “There’s nothing wrong with trusting the people in your life, and there’s nothing wrong with being strong. You just got to go about it the right way.”

“None of that matters now, Roy. I killed Sara.”

“Bullshit,” Roy snapped, taking a step closer and instinctively she wanted to step back, to keep that distance between them but she was done pushing people away and keeping secrets and everything else that had gotten her in to this mess to being with.

Mess, she sighed, understatement of the century.

“You didn’t kill Sara. Malcolm killed Sara.”

“You don’t what it’s like Roy-to be told you killed someone and not even be able to remember it.”

The sound he made would have been a laugh if it hadn’t sounded so hopeless, “Actually, yeah I do.”

“What?”

“Right before the invasion of the super soldiers? I was pretty messed up Thea.”

She paused, remembering the way Roy had been angry and evasive and if she could pinpoint a moment when her life had started to fall apart, that would have been one of them.

Thea sighed, there was a lot of moments. “I remember.”

“And while I was out of it, I hurt somebody. A cop. I didn’t remember it till recently and your brother…Oliver helped, Thea. He helped me come to terms with what happened and if you talked to him I think he could help you too.”

“Roy.”

He stopped her by putting up a hand, “And I’m here for you, too. Totally plutonic or whatever, I just want you to know you’re not in this alone anymore. You’re strong Thea, I’ve seen you fight, and I’ve seen you survive and now you’ve got all of Team Arrow behind you.”

She smiled, “Team Arrow?”

Roy winced, “Don’t tell Oliver I said that.”


End file.
